PARIS, MAY 23: For once, the Roland Garros crowds will be more interested in the women's draw than the men's at a French Open which offers the prospect of a long-awaited showdown between Martina Hingis and Steffi Graf.

Since the 16-year-old Swiss took over from the 26-year-old German at the top of the world rankings in March, injuries have kept them apart.

Graf has been out of action for over three months with a knee injury and only resumed playing in Berlin last week. Crashing 6-0, 6-1 to South African Amanda Coetzer in the quarter-finals.

In her absence, Hingis became the girl wonder of women's tennis, underlining the form which yielded her first Grand Slam title in Australia with 26 straight wins in 1997 alone.

Had she not fallen from a horse on April 21, the two leading figures in women's tennis might have met in the German Open last week. But Hingis pulled out, saying her knee injury had not quite healed.

If they end up meeting in the final on June 7, it would be their first clash since the Masters final in November, which Graf won.

Since then, the two should have met in Tokyo in the Pan Pacific Indoor final only for Graf to withdraw through injury.

Questions about their health will certainly dominate press conferences in the first rounds of the women's tournament, usually virtual warm-up sessions for the leading players.

The German, bidding for a sixth French title whereas Hingis lost in the third round of her first Roland Garros attempt last year, paid tribute to the young Swiss who she admits has brought a ``breath of fresh air'' to the sport.

The Parisian crowd would probably allow a third player to gatecrash their `dream final' in the form of local heroine Mary Pierce.

Of all the players on the women's circuit, the Canadian-born Frenchwoman is the one who has made the most of the absences of Hingis and Graf, winning in Rome and reaching the final in Berlin.

But Parisians, who booed Pierce off court when she crashed out of the French Open in a disastrous loss to Barbara Rittner last year, will be merciless if the 22-year-old player indulges in the prima donna attitudes she showed in the past.

Monica Seles was a little too limited physically to shine in her favourite tournament last year, losing in the quarter-finals to Czech Jana Novotna. This season she has lost twice to Hingis and once to Pierce earlier this month in Rome, and does not look at her very best.

The other leading favourites will once again be Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez, who have both had very average seasons but are often at their best on clay.

American Mary Joe Fernandez, losing finalist here in 1993, shot back to form with victory in Berlin last week and will be the leading outsider with Novotna.

Teenagers Venus Williams of the US and Anna Kournikova of Russia, already considered Hingis' leading future rivals, will also be closely watched.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.